Tourists taking part in ‘Temple Run challenge’ at historic Cambodian Unesco site receive backlash

Tourists have sparked debate after filming themselves sprinting around a Unesco World Heritage site in Cambodia as part of the ‘ Temple Run in real life’ trend.

Videos are gaining millions of views on social media of people running and jumping around the symbolic archaeological site of Angkor in Cambodia.

Angkor contains the remains of different capitals of the Khmer Empire spanning over hundreds of years and includes the famous temple complex of Angkor Wat , where tourists are visiting and filming videos recreating a popular mobile game.

The videos are an ode to Temple Run , a video game by Imangi Studios that has been a popular download since it was released in 2011, prompting many spin-offs. The main premise of the game is to guide an explorer around a temple while animals chase them as they run, duck, and jump through an obstacle course of ruins and ancient trees.

A series of TikTok videos have been created throughout this year, following tourists pretending to be in the game and running around the archaeological site, jumping off and sprinting up various parts of the remains.

While many people in the comments of these viral videos are praising the TikTokers for visiting Cambodia and sharing it on their platform, some conservationists and organisations have spoken out about the trend’s disruptive nature.

A Unesco spokesperson told The Independent that while social media trends can help out a destination’s tourism industry, it can also exacerbate issues of overtourism.

“Social media trends can threaten the sustainability of tourism by encouraging a high volume of visitors to congregate in specific areas,” the spokespersons said.

“Moreover, the obsession with capturing and posting the perfect video can detract from the authentic travel experience, reducing engagement with the cultural and historical significance of a place.”

“This loss of significance, essential to the existence of a cultural or natural site, is of concern for Unesco. It is the identity and history of the communities, who are the first custodians of the property, that can be impacted.

“Unesco urges visitors to approach these sites with respect and curiosity, encourages them to take the time to really experience the unique culture and heritage of destinations and to remember that their actions have an impact on the preservation of these sites and the wellbeing of communities surrounding the sites,” they added.

Conservation consultant Simon Warrack told Bloomberg : “It’s not just potential damage to the stones by people bumping into them and falling or knocking things over — which is real, but it’s also damage to the spiritual and cultural value of the temples.”

Others have also commented that the site is important to Cambodian heritage and is not just a tourist attraction.

“Tourists have been doing silly things at Angkor for years,” Alison Carter, an archaeology professor at the University of Oregon specialising in Southeast Asia, told Business Insider .

“People often forget that Angkor Wat and other Angkorian temple sites are places of living cultural heritage for Cambodian people," she added. “If one wouldn’t do something in a church or a mosque, they shouldn’t do it in an Angkorian temple.”

Andy Brouwer, a film producer and research consultant in the region, also noted that running around the sites could put them at risk of an accident.

"Allowing people to run through the temple, jumping up and down, is a combined accident and disaster waiting to happen,” he told the outlet.

However, not everyone has interpreted the ‘ Temple Run in real life’ trend as a bad or disruptive phenomenon, as in the comments of those viral videos, some praised the creators for promoting the site and Cambodia’s tourism opportunities.

“Fantastic, I am coming in a few weeks to do more videos there to promote tourism in beautiful Cambodia,” a user wrote under one video.

“Thank you so much for coming to Cambodia,” another wrote, while someone else said, “Wow, so amazing and thank you so much [for] sharing Cambodia.”

Other videos are also filled with users in the comments praising the creators for visiting and promoting Cambodia. The country is still recovering from the hit its tourism industry took from Covid-19, the Khmer Times reports.

In June, a parkour group visited the ancient Italian city of Matera, also a World Heritage site, when one free runner caused a segment of a historic building to fall off, sending him and the piece crashing to the floor.

Tourist damage and disruption happen all over the globe. In June, two people were also seen on social media smashing ancient and federally protected red rock formations in a national park in Nevada, while last year, there was widespread outrage w hen a tourist was caught carving his name into Rome’s Colosseum .

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